J.J. Abrams Will Direct the New Star Wars Movie

[Vis]

Ending months of speculation over possible contenders—Christopher Nolan? Wes Anderson?—The Wrap reports that fanboy favorite J.J. Abrams will direct the new Star Wars movie, set to be relased in 2015. Deadline followed up with their own report, and a writer for The Hollywood Reporter said he was able to confirm the selection as well. Abrams has been in the running ever since George Lucas sold his property to Disney, though he initially said he wasn't interested. Thankfully, it appears the much-praised director has changed his mind, and decided to take on the daunting task of restoring balance to the force.

While there were other intriguing possibilities—Guillermo del Toro and Brad Bird both would have been interesting choices—Abrams may be the smartest move for Disney. Not only has he demonstrated his sci-fi chops with Lost and Super 8, he has demonstrated an ability to resuscitate fading franchises with the well-received Mission Impossible III and the critically acclaimed Star Trek reboot. Abrams will undoubtedly have the franchise's best interests at heart: Back in 2009, he said, "As a kid, Star Wars was much more my thing than Star Trek was."

On an even more surprising note, Deadline and The Wrap both report that Ben Affleck was also in the running for the job. With only three films under his belt as a director, Affleck would seem like a risky proposition, especially since he has no sci-fi experience, nor any professed love for the genre. (Argo does have a fake Star Wars knockoff within the movie, but we don't see anything beyond some storyboards and a few costumes.) With Abrams, Disney chose to stay true to the nature of the franchise while hopefully elevating it to the kind of creative level we haven't seen since the Ewoks celebrated on Endor.

[SteelersCanada]

I hope the viral marketing is as cool as it was for Cloverfield.

[NEPatriots]

I bet the one without Lucas controlling everything will be the best one lol.

Abrams is an awesome choice. Star Wars needs more lensflare.

[Vis]

Originally Posted by NEPatriots

I bet the one without Lucas controlling everything will be the best one lol.

Abrams is an awesome choice. Star Wars needs more lensflare.

Star Wars (when it was still just Star Wars with the original special effects) is the best.

[SteelerEmpire]

Can't wait. Will be really interesting to see what type of new twists Disney and Abrams will put to these movies.

[Stu Pidasso]

Star Destroyers with Mickey Mouse ears instead of shield generators... 'Nuf said.

[Vis]

Originally Posted by Stu Pidasso

Star Destroyers with Mickey Mouse ears instead of shield generators... 'Nuf said.

I remember the ears in The Sixth Sense and Remember the Titans. Very distracting. Nuff said.

[Stu Pidasso]

Well, now we know what JJ stands for in JJ Abrams: Jar Jar.

[NEPatriots]

Originally Posted by Vis

Star Wars (when it was still just Star Wars with the original special effects) is the best.

The best one (Empire Strikes Back) is the one Lucas had the least to do with
Lucas is great at coming up with a general story arch but he sucks at executing it and writing dialogue. He turns to crap real quick once he gets into that stuff.

[ricardisimo]

Originally Posted by NEPatriots

The best one (Empire Strikes Back) is the one Lucas had the least to do with
Lucas is great at coming up with a general story arch but he sucks at executing it and writing dialogue. He turns to crap real quick once he gets into that stuff.

You give him too much credit. He should stick to special effects and cashing checks.